To Grandmother's House We Go

The weekend of April 17th-20th, the kid's and I headed down to Grandma's house. When we got there on Saturday, we helped Aunt Sarah get ready for Prom. Soon after we got there Grandma and Grandpa arrived home from a trip to Utah with Aunt Jenny and Aunt Chelsea. It was fun to be able to spend the weekend with all 4 of my sisters.

Aunt Sarah all ready for Prom holding Jilly

Aunt Sarah with Jilly, Sabrina, Benson, and Spencer. Grace got shy and wouldn't get in the picture for some reason.

On Monday, we headed to Tulsa and met some of our good friends at Chuck E. Cheese's. The kid's had lots of fun and it's always good to catch up with friends.

On Tuesday we made t-shirts for the kids and went to Sarah's last home soccer game. We think she had the cutest fan club ever!

Aunt Chelsea finally got to meet Jillian. We missed her at Christmas this year so this was the first time she had seen her.

At the end of the game we tried to get a picture of Aunt Sarah with her fan club, but the kids were pretty much done by then. I thought I'd include the picture though since it makes me laugh every time I see it.

It is definitely more challenging to travel again with a nursing baby. We had to stop half way both going there and coming home and it's only a 4 hour drive! Here's hoping that improves or it will be a LONG trip to Utah at the end of the summer!

Chopped!

We did it! I have been talking about cutting Grace's hair off FOREVER and this week we finally did it. When I called to schedule the appointment (we were driving) she started crying in the back seat and telling me she didn't want her hair cut. So we talked it up a lot and tried to make it seem really exciting. In the car on the way there I heard her in the back saying to herself, "My hair cut is going to be SO cute!" She kept telling everyone, including our friend Genelle who cut it that she wanted her hair cut a little bit long. Crazy girl. I REALLY love it and she does too, although she has still asked for a ponytail several times.

I cut mine off as well which I am really loving since I am currently experiencing massive post-pregnancy hair loss and since Jillian has the strongest grip ever and has been pulling out what little hair is left. And Sabrina got a trim. We are working on growing her hair out to see if longer will also equal thicker.

Strawberry Shortcakes!

Accident Prone

Sabrina is going through a phase. We think it's because she has grown recently and her brain can't quite keep up with the growth of her body. She gets hurt CONSTANTLY. She trips, bumps her head, pinches her fingers, skins her knees, falls off her stool (occasionally even off the counter) several times each day.

Just in the last few days she has:

• fallen off her stool at least twice during meals


• tripped and fallen on the way into swimming lessons resulting in a skinned knee (on top of the skinned knee from swimming lessons last week) and two splinters in her hand


• fallen off the counter in the bathroom and bumped her head resulting in a nice goose egg and bruise in the middle of her forehead


• burned her fingers on the straightener

Mike held Sabrina's hand on the way to the car after swimming lessons last night and she seriously tripped and would have fallen at least 5 times during the short walk.

We sure hope this phase passes quickly and without any major injuries! Doesn't she look pathetic? Poor kid!

Weekends

I remember once upon a time when weekends were relaxing, a break from the daily grind, something to look forward too. I'm pretty sure that right now at this phase of life we are in, weekends are busier and more challenging than the rest of the week. But it's good to be anxiously engaged in good causes, and we do still manage to have some fun each weekend. Below are some pics from this last weekend of some fun stuff, not the work!


On Friday night, Benson and I went on a Mother/Son date. He has been wanting to use his Applebee's certificate, so we went and had some dinner. After dinner we went to the Pet Store to look at some animals there. While we were eating Benson started filling out the Mad Libs that was on his kid's menu. He thought the result was HYSTERICAL and must have read it to me 100 times throughout the evening...ok 100 might be a slight exaggeration, but only slight. When we got home, he read it to Mike and after his first word insertion when Mike did not give a reaction, Benson looked at him and commanded, "Laugh!" Mike paid closer attention and gave better responses thereafter.

Sabrina and Grace continue to be great helpers with Jillian. On Saturday I was trying to get a few things done and Jillian just wanted to be held. Sabrina laid down next to her on the bed and Jilly snuggled right in and fell asleep. So sweet.


Could she be any cuter?


Grace's fancy hairdo for church on Sunday.


Here's hoping for a relaxing weekend sometime in the near future! :)

Easter

You might say I've been a little off my game recently, since we STILL haven't dyed Easter eggs, despite my nightly promises to the kids that we will do it tomorrow. However, we did make and decorate egg and bunny sugar cookies on Friday evening. That counts for something, right?

1-3 - Decorating sugar cookies, 4 - Mommy and Jilly, 5-6 - Thanks for the stickers Grandma Kathy! Everyone enjoyed them, even Jillian.

We did the egg hunt thing on Sunday morning, enjoyed General Conference, and finished off the day with a yummy ham dinner.

What's been going on in Kindergarten

On March 25th, Benson had his Kindergarten Music Program. They performed twice, once during the school day for the rest of the school and once in the evening for the parents. Benson did a great job and it was fun to see him singing and participating, which he hasn't always been very willing to do. Mike wants me to add that the video is so shaky because the girls were standing next to him on their chairs and kept grabbing him to keep from falling.

Last week, Benson was nominated by his teacher for being a trustworthy student and was recognized in a special assembly at school. His teacher wrote, "Benson is a great example of a trustworthy student. I can always count on him to be honest. I know that Benson will always do what he says he will do. Keep up the great work!" And he got a certificate for a free kid's meal at Applebee's which he is very anxious to use.

We are so proud of Benson and can't believe how grown up he is!

Four Months

Today Jillian is four months old and I wish I could freeze time. I love this age. Especially with Jillian since she is our best sleeper. She will occasionally get up once at night to eat, usually about 3am, but other than that it's 9 hours from 9pm to 6am. Now if we could only get everyone else in the family to sleep through the night, we would be set! Here are some of the new things Jilly is doing these days.

Jillian is becoming a lot more vocal. And we can definitely use more noise around here. Just kidding, I really do love to listen to her explore her vocal range. So cute!


Jilly likes to put things in her mouth. Her fist, toys, mommy's fingers, her binky, she almost always has something in her mouth.


Jillian is a lot more interested in what is going on around her. This includes the TV. She, like her big brother and sisters, is definitely a fan of Baby Einstein. And her brother and sisters will actually occasionally let her watch it.

Jilly is getting closer to rolling over. When she's laying on her back she will throw her legs so she will be laying completely on her side. Her shoulder is the only thing stopping her.

Jilly has finally started sleeping less during the day. And she only really naps well in her bed. Which would be fantastic if she was our first child. But she's the 4th and our only napper and it is impossible some days for me to work around her naps. Which has made for some hard days recently. But she still sleeps through the night so we can deal with the other.




Here are her stats from her 4 month appt
Weight: 12 lbs, 10 oz - 17th percentile
Height: 24.25" - 35th percentile


Benson weighed 15lbs, 9oz at 4 months old (actually he was almost 5 months old because we got off schedule with his well child appts)


Grace weighed 14 lbs at 4 months old


Sabrina weighed 14 lbs, 6oz at 4 months old

I think we can safely say that Jillian is the runt of the bunch!